Fair Price Shop Dealers Association (FPSDA), a body of ration dealers in Jharkhand on Sunday threatened to go on a strike if its demands are not fulfilled in a month.
In a State-level meeting in Ranchi, the FPSDA alleged that its members are still deprived of the increased commission promised by the Hemant Soren government.
‘’After the State-wide agitation in January this year, the Jharkhand government had promised to increase our commission against distribution of ration from ₹1 to ₹1.5 per kg. However, we received only 94.50 paise per kg,’‘ the association general secretary Sanjay Kundu said.
“The State government had claimed that the full commission of ₹1 cannot be provided as it is yet to receive the amount of central share,” he said.
‘’We do not care whether it is a central or State share. We want our full commission,’‘ he said.
He added that dealers want their commission to be increased.
He said that the government had failed to deliver on its promises made to ration dealers.
‘’The government had also promised to convert all electronic point of sale (e-POS) machines from the existing 2G network to 4G. This work is also pending and creating troubles to the ration dealers,’ Mr. Kundu said.
The association also claimed that the government had assured them of providing shops on compensatory grounds in case of the death of a dealer but it is yet to be implemented.
“We have decided that if our demands are not fulfilled in a month, then all the dealers will go on strike and will not provide ration to the consumers, “Mr. Kundu said.
